Welcome to Queer In Exile: showcasing the best in brilliant new queer arts from around the world, created now in response to the 2020 pandemic.
Contains adult material.
As soon as furlough hit, I knew I had to do something to keep moving—to replace the vibrancy of working in a fantastic arts venue, the energy of some truly wonderful colleagues, the train journeys into the city.
I set about turning a series of photo images I’d created with my brother into book (A Pocket Guide To The Handkerchief Code; there’s an extract on pages 60-63), bringing the tongue-in-cheek humour already lurking within them to the forefront and, hopefully, raising a smile on some isolated lips. It’s not something I’d have ever thought about doing without the imposed restrictions—I’d envisioned the pieces sitting quietly (and somewhat enigmatically) on the gallery wall—but I’m so pleased to have gone off in a new direction, housing the works in a form that’s allowed me to easily share them and reach a far greater audience.
Once my own project was done and dusted and making its own way in the world, I began to look around at what other arts practitioners were doing in reaction to the crisis. So much fantastic work being produced in spite of, or perhaps because of, the places people found themselves in. So much connection, reflection, reaction, fun. I had to do something to bring just some of it together—and here we are.
I hope that you enjoy Queer In Exile as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together, and that you’ll join me in thanking all the wonderful creative people who’ve contributed to this project.
Sam Moreno Alamein
Queer In Exile 